


Diagnosis

by cyphernaut



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Kidlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-19
Updated: 2013-06-19
Packaged: 2017-12-15 12:34:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/849620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyphernaut/pseuds/cyphernaut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quick one-off in response to the following prompt:</p><p>Some family member (aunt, grandparent, your choice), hears all the stories about how terrible Sherlock is, and how hard a time the Holmes' are having trying to treat him. They decide to call on a doctor friend of theirs who happens to be one of the best in the field of children's mental health. The doctor shows up at the Holmes house expecting to meet the anti-Christ, but since he's, ya know, actually competent, he immedeatly realizes that Sherlock's been misdiagnosed big time. The doctor is utterly horrified on by some of the unnecessary/unnapropiate treatments wee!Sherlock has suffered through, and unleashes the wrath of God on his parents.</p><p>Warning for probably anachronistic and not-quite-right psychology. and previous doctors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diagnosis

Mrs. Holmes' anxious face stared across the coffee table, her eyes flicking immediately to the stray thread that hung from Carolyn's cuff. “We've tried _everything_ ,” she explained. “He's just unreachable. The last doctor said he might be a sociopath!”

Carolyn thought back to the mutual friend who'd referred her. “I'm just so worried about him,” she had said. “He was such a sweet little boy.” Carolyn frowned.

“What exactly have you tried?”

“Oh, _everything_! We have the records here,” she added, handing Carolyn a stack of papers to look through as she continued her nervous rant. “He's just so manipulative, and you should hear the way he talks to us. I don't know that you should be alone with him.”

“Mrs. Holmes, I know this is difficult, but please understand that I've dealt many children with some very difficult problems.”

Fifteen minutes later, she found herself chatting with a very angry little boy. Sherlock was a textbook case, in fact, so much so that if Carolyn had only learned about psychological disorders from a textbook, she would have been confidently wrong in what she was seeing. She closed her notebook and smiled at the child.

“I think we've talked enough for me to have a diagnosis, don't you?” she asked, and Sherlock stared back in challenge. “You are pretending to have borderline personality disorder. You're quite good at it, too. I knew exactly what you were trying for.”

Unphased by his exposure, Sherlock blinked back coldly. “And you are recently back from a trip abroad. You took your two daughters, one of whom was sick today and stayed home from school. You've divorced within the past three months, and you still miss your ex-husband. You have a date tonight, though, to the cinema.”

The speech ended, and Carolyn sat stunned for a moment, thankful that all of her training kept her placid facial expression in place while her mind spun in place. “That's an excellent diagnosis, Sherlock,” she finally replied. “Very close. My husband passed away last year, and I've just started dating recently.” She fingered the tan line around her ring finger. “I imagine that's as close as a widow can get to a divorce.”

Sherlock waited, staring blankly at her, and Carolyn asked, “May I have a turn now?”

“If you like.”

“You dislike therapy, and you dislike psychologists. They twist everything you say into something different. You're angry at your parents for forcing you to come to therapy, which is a waste of your time, and you resent the assumption that there's something wrong with you, when in actuality you'd do much better and wouldn't have these problems if they didn't treat you the way they do. You believe that they poison other people's thoughts against you. You think you might not love them, and part of you is happy about that because that's what they deserve. Deep down, you're afraid that some part of you might be fundamentally broken.”

Sherlock's mask cracked, and Carolyn saw the stricken face of the eleven-year-old boy she'd come to help. He blinked his tears back and took a steadying breath. “Why did you say that?”

“Because that's exactly the way I would expect a perfectly normal boy to react to what you've been through.”

* * *

The session ran over, but by the end Carolyn had earned a little more of Sherlock's trust and convinced him to try at least one more therapy session. The hard part, though, would be to convince his parents that the purpose of therapy was not to turn Sherlock into the son they'd always wanted.

“That took so long. Is everything all right? Did he say anything to you? He always says such horrible things!”

“We had a very productive session. I'm concerned about him, and I'd like to continue with weekly sessions, individually and with the entire family.”

“Oh, we tried that before and it didn't work. Sherlock just blames everything on us or his brother. He's so manipulative.”

Carolyn was unsurprised that family therapy was not a favourite in the Holmes household. It sounded like Mrs. Holmes felt that she should be a co-therapist in her son's treatment. “It's very common for children to become manipulative when they don't trust authority figures to respond to their needs.”

“But we've done everything for him,” Mrs. Holmes defended herself. “If you knew the money that we've spent on therapy for that child. He refuses to change.”

“Mrs Holmes, most of the 'therapies' that Sherlock has been subjected to are not considered valid by any reputable psychological association. Frankly, many of them are likely to traumatize children who are already in a vulnerable state.”

“They've had some very good results with other children.”

“They can often create a temporary trauma bond, yes, but it doesn't last, it's psychologically damaging, and it makes it difficult for them to form healthy relationships in the future.” She took a breath. “Mrs. Holmes, I know you want what's best for your son, but these things take time. You have to give it therapy more than the three weeks you gave it last time.”

“He just says such horrible things. Mycroft was never like that. How can he blame us when Mycroft never had any of these problems?”

“That's something we can address in our sessions.”

It took time, but eventually Mrs. Holmes agreed to a treatment plan. Carolyn wasn't optimistic about the family's commitment, but she hoped to give Sherlock at least a fighting chance. In the meantime, she had some practitioners to report to the board of ethics.


End file.
